Sunday, September 25, 2011

I can't claim to ownership of this idea...but HAD to share! It is such a simple yet fantastic idea. A third grade teacher, Jennifer Joslyn, at my new school shared it with me. I then took the idea and ran with it. It is called Smart Beads. Whenever a student participates in class, maybe when no one else will, gets a question correct, basically just stands out in making an effort academically you tell them to get a smart bead (I bought mine at the dollar store/ 8 for $1). Then at then end of the day they trade their smart beads in for a smart slip to take home and give to their parents, they can share with them how they earned them. I love this idea because it can boost confidence academically, instead of just focusing on behavior. Here is the printable I remade of the smart slip and a picture of the bin ($2 from Target) that I added some lettering to. ENJOY!

Why does blogger tend to do this with some of my pics? Sorry it's sideways

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Sorry for the long silence, things got pretty hectic around here...and now I am allowed to share as to why. Our school was low in enrollment (especially in third grade) therefore a teacher had to be displaced (go to a different school that was high in enrollment).

I always hate when things like this happen because you see wonderful teachers leave and usually end up at schools that are not near their homes and a lot of times they have their own children that have to change schools as well.

This year I decided I wanted to volunteer to be displaced. I felt that this was a great opportunity for me to try and actually get closer to my house. I love my current school dearly and have been there for almost 7 years, but I was driving approximately 30 to 40 min one way to get there. It was okay prior to having my daughter, but now it's be really difficult. My husband works nights so I have to get her up early, take her to daycare, drive to the school (which in our area is a late starting school, meaning we get out late too), spend a little time grading papers and such, drive back to my area and pick my daughter up from daycare, run home and get dinner started...and by that time I probably get around an hour or so to spend with her before bed time. This year it has been really hard on me. So I saw this as a wonderful opportunity! After going a a few interviews (yep after not interviewing in over seven years...it was interesting). I was offered a third grade position just over 15 minutes away from my house! Of course I accepted, but was not allowed to discuss things for a little while due to parents needing to be notified and such...which is not an easy task AT ALL, especially not being allowed to tell my own students.

I am so excited for this new adventure! It was not a quick and easy decision and I am going to GREATLY miss my current school and especially my grade level. But I am ready for the challenge and new things to come. Good thing for all my readers, you all get a second classroom reveal!!!!!! Stay tuned for that!

On another note we were out of town for a little while because my sister finally came home from her year long deployment!! We were able to see her actually get off the bus! Enjoy the pictures.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Picture from Google Images...A: I wish I was that skinny and B: LOVE her jeans!

As I had mentioned before I have been down for the count for over a week now. I suffer from what is known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Not something everyone wants to talk about or discuss, but believe it or not 1 out of 6 people suffer from it and it is twice as common in women than men (don't we get all the fun diseases!).

Warning: the following contains information about "bowel movements"... read at your own risk!

A little over five years ago I noticed that foods I loved to eat and had always eaten were really starting to bother my stomach, and I'm not talking about having that bowl of chili at the big game party and having to wave the covers at night to share my "blessings" with the hubby. I am talking about as soon as eating a salad filled with my favorite vegetables and "tasting it over and over again" (as I describe it) all day, and sometimes the next day. I didn't really think too much about and just began avoiding those foods. Which is no fun at all.

I don't remember all of the details but do know eventually I found that it just wasn't food that was causing my stomach to turn flips. My bowel (yep said it) movements were irratic to say the least...for a few days I wouldn't go and then next thing I knew I couldn't stop going! Again I would just deal with it, and let it pass.

Then it just kept getting worse. I finally talked to a doctor about it all. They did some of the simple tests to illiminate other things, and came up with the conclusion that it was IBS and decided just to put me on some preventative medication. I was not thrilled with the idea of it all...I mean the preventative meds were anti-depresants. But after some research and discussion with my husband it was common. Medications like Zoloft are prescribed for IBS to keep stress levels lower. So let me give you a little medical info on IBS:

The signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome can vary widely from person to person and often resemble those of other diseases. Among the most common are:

Abdominal pain or cramping

A bloated feeling

Gas (flatulence)

Diarrhea or constipation — sometimes even alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea

Mucus in the stool

Yep those were on my list. Well the meds did help but I was still having flare ups. The doctors did a few more test to rule other things out, AGAIN. Including the most exciting one of them all...a colonoscopy! I was under thrity and had a colonoscopy, indoscopy, numerous barium scans including when they inject liquid into your system to "see what happens". All test came back just fine. It got to a point where I wished that they would just find something, so it could all be "fixed".

A year ago was probably my worst attack ever. I was in so much pain that I could not even stand up straight. I felt as though I was preping for a colonoscopy again and couldn't leave the bathroom. It was so bad that my husband took me to the emergency room. There they admitted me, so that I could have some strong pain meds and ordered ultrasounds to check the galbladder AGAIN. Once again nothing. They even did a ton of blood work to watch different blood cell counts and at one time thought maybe pancreatitis. The doctors kept me out of work for over a week (during the first month of school, now that was not easy for me at all!). Eventually with new pain meds and anti-diarrhea meds (because over the counter Tums, Pepto, Maloxx...don't even come close to working any more) I regained some normalness.

Well it happened again! Apparently my body adjusted to the meds and once again I found myself in pain and closed in a bathroom. The old meds did help keep some of the pain at bay, so I didn't have to go to the hospital again, but I did have to find new ones. Because this time I couldn't even take a shower without throwing up. So a trip to the urgent care and new perscriptions helped a little more. I am still recovering and well it was the quickest 12lbs I have ever lost, but I am finally on the mend. I have found that this time the recovery is longer, I just don't have a lot of energy...but hopefully things will be back to "normal" soon. As the doctors say I just internalize everything and eventually it catches up with me. The urgent care doctor made the comment: "I see you have pretty much had every test and scoped from both ends...so yep I am thinking you do have IBS. You may just want to find a job that doesn't cause stress, and stay zen" I told him when he knew of a stressless job just let me know.

So there it is...my not so fun illness. I have a lot of other things going on as well and plan to share as soon as I am able, along with some great freebies, tutorials, and classroom ideas. So stay tuned!